The National Museum of Korea (NMK)The National Museum of Korea (NMK) endeavors to preserve, to exhibit, and to interpret our cultural heritage in amanner that befits the museum’s international scale. It also strives through international cultural exchanges to becomea world-class institution that serves the Korean people.

National MuseumThe National Museum of Korea (NMK) endeavors to preserve, to exhibit, and to interpret our cultural heritage in a manner that befits the museum’s international scale. It also strives through international cultural exchanges to become a world-class institution that serves the Korean people. To achieve its mission, the museum will focus on three objectives: popularization, globalization, and informatization. Above all, the NMK will provide more extensive visitor services both in quality and quantity as it envisions a cultural multiplex of great accessibility and comfort. To make cultural welfare more equitable is one of the key issues in the new millennium and the NMK will be at the forefront in delivering cultural benefit to a broader and more diverse audience.

CheonggyecheonThe Cheonggyecheon used to be a naturally formed stream before the Joseon Dynasty designated Seoul as its capital. It was used for women gathered along the stream, bringing a load of clothes to wash and cauldrons to boil the clothes, and children playing in the stream. During the Japanese colonial period, the Cheonggyecheon went through some changes different from those made in the past. the Cheonggyecheon was filled up with trash, ground and sand swept from the bare mountains and severely contaminated with wastes from shabby makeshift houses built alongside. After the Korean War (1950~1953), even more people swarmed into Seoul to find their way and make their living and settled down along the stream. It appeared that the handiest way to put an end to the multitude of shabby, makeshift houses and the dirty smell was to cover up the stream with concrete. Finally, the work to cover it up with concrete started as quickly as possible by August 1958, with the 136m section near Gwangtonggyo completed in 1955 ahead of the remaining sections. In addition, a 5.6 km-long, 16 m-wide elevated highway extending from Gwanggyo to Majang-dong was completed over the stream in August 1971 after four working years. Thus, all makeshift houses along the stream were demolished, freeing the place for some modern commercial buildings.Then, in the 1980s and 1990s, it came to be regarded as a source of intense traffic, health and environmental issues. Finaly, Seoul city dicided for recover the stream and now it becomes an oasis of the city, Seoul.

ItaewonItawon has been a residential area for foreigners every since the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910), and continues to have a high concentration of foreigners living in the housing nearby and on the American army base. The shopping district in Itawon is particularly well-known with some 1,350 shops located in the area. Goods and prices vary from dirt-cheap bargains to luxury items like furs.